DPR militiaman comments on OSCE meeting with DPR POWs’ family members

A DPR militiaman commented OSCE working group coordinator Toni Frisch’s meeting with family members of DPR prisoners of war held in Ukrainian prisons, a Rossa Primavera News Agency staff correspondent reports.

Despite numerous Internet publications about the inhumane treatment of Donbass POWs in Ukraine, Kiev has never acknowledged these facts.

During our correspondent work in Donbass, we had a chance to speak with Ukrainian army POWs as well as former POWs among DPR servicemen.

The Ukrainian war dogs’ detention in Donetsk was certainly not a top-class hotel service; however, they received good food and medical aid, they had a TV set in their cell, and none of them looked emaciated or exhausted. Meanwhile, those freed from Ukrainian prisons told about horrors, and that was no slander.

I witnessed several exchanges of Ukrainian and DPR POWs. Of course, Ukrainian army POWs brought for exchange were not wearing tuxedos, but they had good clothes for the weather, they were all healthy, and they looked quite well. Our guys, in contrast, stumbled and had to support each other as they stepped out of the cars, even in winter they were wearing rags, and they carefully walked on their injured bare feet.

This contrast was described even by a known Ukrainian POW exchange activist, General Vladimir Ruban; but nevertheless, Kiev refused to acknowledge this reality. The West, too, remained silent about the Kiev regime’s crimes against the DPR POWs, and so did the OSCE Monitoring Mission responsible for keeping watch over the situation on both sides of the demarcation line in Donbass.

It remained silent until recently, when the OSCE suddenly began to open its eyes a little to the situation.

On August 20 in Donetsk, OSCE working group coordinator Toni Frisch had a meeting with family members of DPR supporters held in Ukrainian prisons.

The relatives told a lot of “news” to the OSCE official; they told Frisch about the conditions in the Ukrainian prisons where their relatives are held, and about the interrogation methods used there. Among those in attendance were some who suffered through the “wonders” of the Ukrainian penitentiary system; they shared how long it took them to recover after they were freed.

Also, Frisch was informed that the Ukrainian side has repeatedly sabotaged prearranged POW swaps on an all-for-all basis, on which Donetsk insists. The OSCE coordinator failed to answer even a single question asked.

The question remains open as to how open the OSCE’s eyes have become, and whether its Monitoring Mission has begun to see any of the crimes the Kiev regime is committing on Donetsk land.

According to the Minsk Agreements, Ukraine is to exchange POWs with the Donetsk and the Lugansk People’s Republics on an all-for-all basis. However, the Ukrainian side uses every possible excuse to avoid such an exchange and to drag out negotiations. According to DPR officials, Kiev holds over 500 persons who took part in the Donbass conflict.